Velopharyngeal incompetence is a condition in which the palate cannot adequately seal off the oral cavity from the nasal cavity, resulting in abnormal speech. It is sometimes present in patients who have had a cleft palate repaired, but it can also be caused by other conditions such as congenital palatal insufficiency, a situation in which the palate is too short to reach the posterior pharyngeal wall. Many corrective procedures for velopharyngeal incompetence have been described, including palatoplasties, pharyngoplasties, and pharyngeal flaps. No single operation has been predictively effective.
One of the main focuses of this invention, but not the only focus, is on cleft palate patients. These patients have been treated with a procedure whereby two portions of a divided palate have been joined together. In many instances the resulting repaired palate is short or relatively immobile, resulting in velopharyngeal incompetence to the extent that the patients have speech problems (often hypernasal speech).